Sunday March 12, 2006
Syria says U.S. order to halt business with two banks part of political pressure
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP): Syria said Saturday it was not surprised by the U.S. Administration's decision to ban American banks from dealing with its state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria and its subsidiary, claiming it was part of political pressure on the country.
"This new move comes in the framework of continuing pressures on Syria for purely political considerations,'' Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed al-Hussein said.
The U.S.Treasury Department said Thursday that U.S. banks must close any accounts they have with the two Syrian banks, as part of an effort to crack down on terrorist financing. The order covers the Commercial Bank of Syria and its subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank.
The Treasury Department had issued a preliminary order last May, charging that the Commercial Bank of Syria has been used by terrorists to move their money, and that the bank was "a primary money laundering concern.'' Thursday's decision made the order final.
But Hussein rejected the charge. "The Commercial Bank of Syria, as a government bank, has been applying all international banking criteria and the basis of combating money laundering and terrorist financing since 2003,'' he said in a statement carried by Syria's official news agency, SANA.
He pointed out that the Syrian Finance Ministry began a dialogue with the U.S. Treasury Department in 2004 in an attempt to clear the charges against the Syrian bank.
"U.S. delegations visited the (Syrian) bank and several meetings were held between representatives of the two ministries with the aim of explaining the bank's commitment to the international banking criteria,'' Hussein said.
On Friday, the Syrian bank's general manager, Dureid Dergham, said operations of the two banks would not be affected by the U.S. decision.
Dergham said Syria had decided to make all its transactions with foreign parties exclusively in euros, "as a preventive measure designed to avoid hurdles the public sector faces when dealing in the U.S. dollar.''
Syria is under intense U.S.-led international pressure to fully cooperate with the U.N. probe into last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have repeatedly accused Syria of not doing enough to stop Islamic militants slipping across its eastern desert border to fight alongside Iraqi insurgents against U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi troops. Syria has rejected the charges, saying it was doing its best to improve security along its 620 kilometer (380 mile) border with Iraq.
Syria has also rejected repeated U.S. demands to expel anti-Israeli radical Palestinian factions based in Damascus.
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